Miscommunication
by MyFandomsChangeFrequently
Summary: I am a terrible listener. Everyone knows this, even Aiton. What Aiton doesn't know is that he's the only one who can get me to listen. A fic that looks back on Aiton's death in the original Patapon game, from Makoton's point of view.


I am a terrible listener. It's a fact that can be confirmed by any member of the Zigoton army. Hell, maybe it reaches beyond that; maybe some family with no relation to the army knows of my legendary listening skills. Either way, I used to not mind. Sure, I might miss information when a superior is talking to me, because I was too busy being off in dream land, or just flat-out ignoring them. In my defense, no superior ever does talk to me. They try to get me as far away from them as possible, knowing that if they need to tell me something, I'm going to mess it up... big-time.

So, I have the lowest possible rank, which is fine with me. No hard work, no pressure, no actual need to listen. It's all fine and wonderful, except for one thing: my best friend, Aiton. He's my only friend (or maybe the only one who tolerates me?), and the one person who I listen to very intently. Every word that comes out of his mouth is clear as a ringing bell cutting through the fog: unmistakeable.

I don't know why he decides to hang around me. He could easily trump me and get several promotions in a day. He knows about how much I don't care what anyone tells me, and yet he still talks to me. Maybe he's trying to straighten me out? It's not working, but I won't tell him that.

Today, we're out guarding some stupid tower from the Patapon army straight in the middle of nowehere. I know it's just a ploy to keep me as far away from everyone else as possible, so why they put the ever-so-competent Aiton with me is anyone's guess.

We've been up here for three Kharma-damned hours. Or maybe it's five? The heat up here is intense, and unrelenting. We may have been up here a day already.

It's quiet, and neither of us are talking to each other; me because I'm sharpening my spear (Yaritons are the lowest of the low. Fitting, right?), and Aiton because he, for whatever reason, is staring down the ground straight ahead. He's continually scanning the area for any trace of the Patapon army. Didn't anyone tell him that we're nowhere? Whatever, I'll let him off and let him have his fun.

As I admire my spear's utter sharpness, I get lost in thought.

"...-ming. Makoton, the Patapons are coming! Hurry up, get your spear!"

What? The Patapons are coming?

"Aiton, are you serious? We're in the middle of nowhere, purposely put here to be kept

away while the rest of the Zigotons take on the Patapons!"

He hisses and pushes me up front. Well, the Patapons are coming after all.

"Pon, Pon, Pata, Pon!" may as well be the last thing I ever hear as clearly as I did Aiton's voice screaming at me to go tell General Gong. I have no idea how much time passed, because it all felt like ten seconds. The tower is bombarded with Patapon swords, spears, and arrows. Have they upgraded recently? Damn, this is not good at all.

I turn around to dart to the stairwell behind me, and make it out of the tower, when I realize that I just left my only friend to guard a tower on his very own against a whole army of the descendents of vicious fighters. I turn around to rush back in, spear armed and ready to murder some Patapons, but just as I turn, the tower collapses. The Patapons' cries of joy and celebration, coupled with the roaring of the collapsing tower, and the rubble it leaves, as well as the thought that _my God, my best friend is in there _create a scene that's every bit as ugly and brutal as Hell itself.

The Patapons are on their way elsewhere, and I search through the rubble for my friend's body '_if anything's left of it, no no of course he's still alive, of course he's not dismembered, don't be silly, oh, I don't know, this is a large tower, he easily could've been crushed, no, yes, no, yes, NO!' _At last, I hear a weak cry coming from a pile of stones right behind me. In a frenzy, I push the stones off and there lies Aiton, badly bleeding, with bruises on nearly every available surface.

"Aiton? Aiton, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can. A better question is, can you hear me?"

A faint chuckle. I make an effort to smile, but I can't.

"C'mon, I'll help you get up. We need to get you back to base, or anywhere that can help you."

He lays a hand on my shoulder.

"No. Please don't. Don't trouble yourself like-" he winces, "that."

"You're kidding, right? You're my only friend, and you're hurt badly. I'm going to save you, whether you want me to or not!"

"Listen," he snaps, and I certainly do listen this time, "I'm telling you not to help me because it's a _waste_. I'm losing blood too fast. I won't make it! Just go. Let me die!"

My heart stopped, and I checked his pulse. Fading, and fast. Too fast. The color in his ember-colored eyes is fading.

Just before they close, I whisper, in my faintest voice. "Aiton, I'm sorry."

A smile, closed eyes, and "See you in the afterlife, Makoton." It's so quiet, almost nothing more than just the moving of lips.

But, I definitely heard it clear as a ringing bell cutting through the fog.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, I have a confession to make: I've never played the original Patapon game. However, I own and have played the near-entirety of Patapon 2. It's one of my favorite games! When the TIP about Makoton and Aiton first rolled around, I didn't pay attention to it too much, because I figured it didn't matter. After looking at online guides to see where to find certain items (I NEED those juices! I can't keep paying the Tsukupon brothers for them!), I discovered that the story of Makoton and Aiton really did matter, and that this was supposed to be a shocking revelation. I read the story on the Patapon wiki and I was fascinated! Now here I go writing a story about it... all I hope is that I don't sound too out-of-character, or out-of-place. I guess I ended up taking some liberties unintentionally, such as I'm not writing the Patapons, Makoton, and Aiton as little eyeball people, but actual people.

Another important note: the reason Makoton was sent to guard the tower with Aiton was a test. Others noticed how Makoton hung around Aiton and how well he managed to listen, and they recognized Makoton's talent with a spear, so they were sent to guard the tower in hopes of finally breaking through Makoton's hazy listening and moving him up. I was going to reveal this in the first draft during the fight before the tower has collapsed, by Aiton hurriedly filling Makoton in, but I couldn't find room to fit it in anywhere. I apologize for that.


End file.
